Calling All Hip Hop Heads...

[Ro]

...I need your help.

My 80GB iPod recently decided to konk out on me, but luckily having purchased it from Costco, I was able to get my money back and use it to purchase a new 160 GB model. Things were so disorganized on the old model, that I pledged I would try a little harder to get things like tagging and album covers just right, and so far, things are all good.

What I'm trying to do first (and I think I'm almost there) is to load it up with pretty much every essential hip hop album, and branch out from there. I have some stuff I love from other genres on there too (RATM, Coldplay, CKY, Marvin Gaye, Ratatat, Beatles, etc.) but I wanna try and tackle this hip hop LP thing first.

So, what are your essential hip hop albums? Your desert island rap LPs? I'm kind of hoping to unearth a gem or two I might've slept on, perhaps discover some dope new artists, and round out what I already have with some obvious but somehow forgotten classics. Could be anything too- any genre, any year. I just recently discovered a couple recent 2007 albums that are approaching classic status (Blu & Exile - Below The Heavens, and Ill Poetic - The World Is Ours), so gimme whatever you want.

I guess if I'm gonna ask for help like this, I had better go first. Here's about 20 hip hop LPs I couldn't live without on my iPod, in no particular order:

Nas - Illmatic
Gang Starr - Hard To Earn
Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Snoop - Doggystyle
Genius/GZA - Liquid Swords
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Wu-Tang Clan - Eneter The 36 Chambers
Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z
Ready To Die - Biggie
ATCQ - Midnight Marauders
Beatnuts - Beatnuts
Common - Resurrection (those first dozen should be on just about everybody's list...I'll try and pick out some lesser known albums from here on)
Danja Mowf - Word Of Mowf
Louis Logic & JJ Brown - Misery Loves Company
Apathy - Eastern Philosophy
Dilated Peoples - The Platform
Foreign Exchange - Connected
Little Brother - all LPs
Jeru The Damaja - The Sun Rises in The East
Jurassic 5 - LP
Kev Brown - I Do What I Do
Royce Da 5'9" - Death Is Certain
Saukrates - The Underground Tapes
Supastition - The Deadline EP
Tha Alkaholiks - 21 & Over
Soundbombing II

As you might be able to tell, I'm a graduate of the mid 90's true school of hip hop, and my tastes kinda go from there for the most part. So my iPod is in particular need of more classic stuff from the early 90's/80's, and some of the more contemporary "alternative" hip hop stuff, like Atmosphere, Sage, El-P, P.O.S., (have some of their albums, but always looking for good recommendations). Thanks, looking forward to reading your lists/suggestions.

[nik-]

Wu-Tang Clan - Wu-Tang Forever (I consider this more essential than 36 chambers, and I love 36 chambers)
Outkast - ATLiens
Outkast - Aquemini

no Tupac? Overexposure or not, he's got great songs.

Mobb Deep - The Infamous
DOC - No One Does it Better
T.I. - T.I vs T.I.P. was from the summer but I think it's classic, but I'm a big T.I. fan.

[nickerjones]

notorious b.i.g. life after death the 2 disc set....... i wore 3 or 4 of these disc sets out before the ipod came out.....
and most people dont like eminem but em is a lyrical genius his 2nd cd was unbelievable in my books i think it was the marshall mathers lp
if you like melodic flowing rap try do or die- headz or tailz

[corporatejay]

2pac - All Eyez On Me
Warren G - Regulate...G Funk Era
Dr. Dre - Chronic 2001
JayZ - Unplugged (or blueprint...or both!)
OutKast - Stankonia
Fugees - The Score
Wyclef Jean - The Carnival
Biggie Smalls - Ready to Die
Puff Daddy - No Way Out
Eminem - Slim Shady LP (nicker beat me on the MM LP)
K-OS - Joyful Rebellion

[nik-]

Stillmatic from Nas was pretty good too, if even just for Ether.

[dubc80]

Ill Communication and License to Ill - Beastie Boys
And Then There Was X - DMX
When Disaster Strikes - Busta Rhymes

Harlem World - Mase (j/k).

[driveway]

Here's what's on my iPod, Hip Hop-wise:

Masta Ace - A Long Hot Summer (you need this album)
Mr. Lif - I Phantom, Mo' Mega
Brother Ali - Champion, The Undisputed Truth, Shadows on the Sun
Maroons - Ambush
Classified - Boy-cott in the Industry, Hitch Hikin' Music
Black Eyed Peas - Bridging the Gap
Declaim - Conversations with Dudley
Cut Chemist - The Audience is Listening
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Del Tha Funky Homosapien - Both Sides of the Brain
Cannibal Ox- The Cold Vein
Blackalicious - The Craft
Deltron - Deltron 3030
RA the Rugged Man - Die Rugged Man Die
J Dilla - Donuts
Ohmega Watts - The Find
Danger Mouse and Jemini - Ghetto Pop Life
The Streets - Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust
Cage - Hell's Winter
Speech - Hoopla
Ugly Duckling - Journey to Anywhere
Kif Kif - Afrodizz
Pharcyde - Labcabincalifornia
Kanye West - College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation
Josh Martinez - Midriff Music
Murs & 9th Wonder - Murray's Revenge
MED - Push Comes to Shove
Quannum Presents - Solesides
Lyrics Born - Same !*@# Different Day
Lifesavas - Spirit in Stone
The Herbalizer - Take London
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising
Zion I - True and Living
The Chiharones- When Pigs Fly

[nickerjones]

dubc lol i was in 9th grade when harlem world came out , we used to play the songs at dances.... those were the joints man!!! lol

[TurnedTheCorner]

Great start to your list, I'll try and suggest some stuff you might get into. If I list things you already have, sorry in advance.

Fleshing out some artists you've already listed:

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels..., Low End Theory
Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader
Gang Starr - Daily Operation, Moment Of Truth, The Ownerz
Nas - It Was Written, God's Son, Stillmatic

Throwing in some more late 80s/early 90s: (with the odd more recent release)

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded, By All Means Necessary, Sex & Violence
Big Daddy Kane - Long Live The Kane, It's A Big Daddy Thing
Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead, The Grind Date
Del - No Need For Alarm, Both Sides Of The Brain, Deltron 3030
EPMD - Strictly Business, Business As Usual
Jungle Brothers - Straight Out The Jungle
KRS One - Return Of The Boom Bap, KRS One
Low Profile - We're In This Together
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - All Souled Out, The Main Ingredient, Mecca and the Soul Brother
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation..., Fear Of A Black Planet, Apocalypse '91, He Got Game
Rakim - The 18th Letter
Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I. - A Shade Of Red
Souls of Mischief - '93 'Til Infinity
Slick Rick - The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick
Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown

Not sure if you're into gangster stuff, but just in case:

Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, Death Certificate
Ice-T - Rhyme Pays, Power, O.G. Original Gangster
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
Westside Connection - Bow Down

More contemporary stuff that isn't quite more than 10 years old:

Black Star - Black Star
Eminem - Slim Shady LP, Marshall Mathers LP
Hieroglyohics - Third Eye Vision
Jurassic 5 - Power In Numbers
Masta Ace - Disposable Arts
Method Man & Redman - Blackout!
Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
Outkast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, ATLiens, Aquemini
The Roots - Home Grown! 1 and 2 (I don't normally recommend Greatest Hits packages, but these discs are a fantastic way to get into The Roots)

If you love Little Brother (great choice), check these out:

9th Wonder - Dream Merchant, Volume 1
Away Team - National Anthem
L.E.G.A.C.Y. - Project Mayhem
Murs - Murs 3:16, The 9th Edition, Murray's Revenge
Nas - God's Stepson (God's Son remixed by 9th Wonder)

And some good ole Canadian content so the CRTC doesn't hunt me down:

DL Incognito - A Sample And A Drum Machine, Life's A Collection Of Experiences
k-os - Exit, Joyful Rebellion

Like I said, sorry if I listed a bunch of stuff you already have.

[Montana Moe]

N.W.A: EFIL4ZAGGIN

Not the top to bottom masterpiece of Straight Outta Compton, but some great beats.

D.J. Quik: Quik is the Name

[dubc80]

Originally Posted by nickerjones

dubc lol i was in 9th grade when harlem world came out , we used to play the songs at dances.... those were the joints man!!! lol

hahah. Yes, I actually own the CD. .

I loved when Monster Magnet made fun of Mace's "Feel So Good" video by making their "Powertrip" video almost identical. Mockery at its finest.

Lots of good albums suggested in this thread.

[Sainters7]

Oh dude you're right up my alley. Don't really listen to new rap, but I love the old school stuff.


2pac - Tradin War Stories

2pac - Rather Be Yo N.I.G.G.A.

2pac - Ambitionz Az A Ridah

Snoop Dogg - Gin And Juice

Snoog Dogg - Ain't No Fun

ODB - Baby I Got Yo Money(this one just makes me laugh)

NWA - Straight Outta Compton

And if you want 80's:

LL Cool J - Goin Back To Cali

LL Cool J - Mamma Said Knock You Out


--That's all off the top of my head, I'd have to dig through my CD collection on the weekend to tell you more. Also there's some gooders from "The War Report" by Capone & Noreaga, but I'd have to actually listen to it to figure out what's what. That's a good start anyways...

[Delthefunky]

Can't remember all the album names. Don't forget the Rub's history of Hip Hop though! They're up to 1998!

(* are my favorites)

EPMD*
Nice & Smooth*
Smiff & Wessun*
CNN
Special Ed*
M.F. Doom
Mr.Lif*
Edan
Camp Lo/Digable Planets*
Chubb Rock*
Biz Markie
J-Live*
Company Flow
De La Soul**
Tribe Called Quest**
Black Sheep***
Jungle Brothers*
Arsonists*
Fugee's
Kool G Rap
Pharcyde (Bizzare Ride II & Labcabincalifornia)***
Big L*
Lord Finesse
Das EFX*
Mad Skillz
Artifacts
Crooklyn Dodgers
Grand Puba
O.D.B.
Nine*

...

[Ro]

Originally Posted by driveway

Classified - Boy-cott in the Industry, Hitch Hikin' Music
Declaim - Conversations with Dudley
Del Tha Funky Homosapien - Both Sides of the Brain
Cannibal Ox- The Cold Vein
Blackalicious - The Craft
Cage - Hell's Winter
Speech - Hoopla
Josh Martinez - Midriff Music
Quannum Presents - Solesides
Lyrics Born - Same !*@# Different Day
Lifesavas - Spirit in Stone
The Herbalizer - Take London

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded,
Del - No Need For Alarm, Both Sides Of The Brain
Jungle Brothers - Straight Out The Jungle
Low Profile - We're In This Together
Redhead Kingpin & The F.B.I. - A Shade Of Red
Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown
Ice-T - Rhyme Pays, Power, O.G. Original Gangster
Hieroglyohics - Third Eye Vision
Masta Ace - Disposable Arts
Nas - God's Stepson (God's Son remixed by 9th Wonder)
k-os - Exit, Joyful Rebellion

Nice. About 75% of that stuff I have, but not all of it on the iPod yet. Left the albums I need to dig up. Have to get cracking, forgot a lot of the other albums also. And some great suggestions too.

I really slept on Del, he's always on these lists and I have to admit I've never really checked his stuff. Same with Lyrics Born, Quannum, Lifesavas, Freestyle Fellowship, all that. Gonna hafta check those ones out for sure. Good call on the Masta Ace joints too. Both great. His new project eMc with Strick, Wordsworth, and another guy who's name is escaping me, is damn good. Love the 9th wonder remix albums, all the justus league stuff is wicked good. Jungle Bros, UMC's also seem to be necessary additions. Cheers fellas.

And yeah, don't feel bad about posting stuff "I might already have." It's all good! Other people are gonna dig through this and find some stuff they like I'm sure, so just gimme your must-haves along with any recommendations you might have. It's interesting to see everyone's differing tastes.

And I'm gonna plug "Below The Heavens" by Blu & Exile one more time. Just an excellent album. Sort of like Strange Fruit Project/Blackalicious meets Illmatic Nas/Pete Rock & CL. I know that sounds crazy, and too good to be true, but damn, I'm listening to it right now again, and it's tight as hell. The beats are well constructed and nice and jazzy/vibey, but Blu is on some next level s*^%. People jock Lupe like he's the second coming, but he can't touch Blu IMO.

This blog has a couple good audio links and some good reviews on it:

http://whentheyreminisce.wordpress.c...-talk-about-6/

[Ro]

Originally Posted by Delthefunky

Can't remember all the album names. Don't forget the Rub's history of Hip Hop though! They're up to 1998!

Yeah bro, again, thanks for the heads up on those. Straight up amazing mixes. So damn good. Can't wait for the Bonnaroo road trip so we can crank those on the trip down.

Originally Posted by Delthefunky

Nice & Smooth*
CNN
Special Ed*
M.F. Doom
Edan
Chubb Rock*
Biz Markie
Arsonists*
Grand Puba
...

Yeah, Nice & Smooth is another group I never really checked out. Gotta get that. Not a big MF Doom fan, but will have to revisit his first couple LPs. Good suggestions ^^^^, definitely will hunt for some of those, only have a couple of those albums on CD.

[WestEndFlamesFan]

I'll add:

People Under the Stairs - O.S.T., Stepfather
J-Live - All of the Above, The Best Part
Common Market - Common Market
Mr. J. Medeiros (from the Procussions) - Of Gods and Girls
Cunninlynguists - A Piece of Strange, Dirty Acres
El Da Sensei - The Unusual
Consequence - Take 'Em to the Cleaners
Think Differently - Wu-Tang Meets Indie Culture
Guru's Jazzmataz Series (I like Vol. 2 the most I'd say)
Pete Rock - Petestrumentals (or anything)
DJ Jazzy Jeff - Hip Hop Forever Vol. 2 (haven't heard 1)
Soul Position - 8 Million Stories
RjD2 - Deadringer (not hip-hop per se, but good beats none the less)
The Good People - The Good People


Definitely ditto on Masta Ace.

[T I M]

Pretty much everything that TurnedTheCorner mentioned.

[Ro]

Thanks to everyone else for the recommendations also. That DJ Quik LP I will search for, and DOC is one rapper I never gave a lot of love to, but that LP mentioned gets a lot of props. Have to revisit that one. And a lot of the other suggestions were the classic mainstream stuff that permeated my formative years, gotta show some love for those LPs. CorporateJay- your list is pretty much exactly that. Memories.

This is exactly what I needed, appreciate it so much fellas.

[Ro]

Originally Posted by WestEndFlamesFan

I'll add:

People Under the Stairs - Stepfather
Common Market - Common Market
Mr. J. Medierios (from the Procussions) - Of Gods and Girls
Cunninlynguists - A Piece of Strange, Dirty Acres
The Good People - The Good People

Just copped the bolded ones recently, haven't listened to them yet though. Good to know they're worthwhile listens. Common Market and Good People are two artists I've never heard of, can't wait to hear them

Jazzy Jeff's Magnificent LPs are worthy additions there too. His HHF mixes are good- but nothing touches those Rub Podcast mixes Delthefunky mentioned earlier. If you liked JJ's, you gotta get those. Peace!

[Crazy Flamer]

How about some Bone Thugs N' Harmony?